This invention is directed to a positioning device or guide for directing sheets such as documents having perforations along their opposed edges into and/or out of a variety of sheet processing machines such as a typewriter, printer, or computer peripheral equipment. As used hereinafter, the term printer shall include such aforementioned equipment as well as any other machines, devices, and the like which may advantageously accept such sheet material. In turn, the term sheet material preferably refers to marginally perforated and continuous sheet material but is broad enough to include non-continuous and non-perforated sheets as well.
Such printers are generally designed to feed sheet, i.e., paper, of two types, continuous form and single sheets. To accomplish the feeding of single sheets, a design known as friction feed is incorporated into the printer. In order to feed continuous form sheet, a machine generally incorporates some type of pin feed to engage marginally punched perforations in the paper or other sheet material. Such form feed mechanisms for moving paper through printers have been used for many years. They include sets of tractors or pin wheels mounted on the printer and directly driven through various drive means by the motor of the printer using gears, timing belts, etc. to drive a shaft which in turn drives the pin feed mechanism. These form feed mechanisms engage perforations provided in the sheet to drive it along a linear path through the printer.
One problem that presently exists is that many printers of the friction feed design do not have pin feed attachments available, or have such attachments available as an expensive option. Many of these machines also do not have the drive power to allow for the attachment of directly driven pin feed devices. This creates a situation which would make it very difficult for these friction feed machines to use continuous sheet forms for normal data processing, a sever disadvantage in the current printer marketplace.
A problem also exists in that some pin feed machines are designed for a fixed sheet width, thus not allowing the flexibility of using various widths of standard paper and forms. This situation causes additional cost to the user of such machines in the purchasing of special supplies made for that specific machine. Another problem in the current market is that distributors of such printers must inventory unique pin feed mechanisms for each machine due to difference in the locations of drive interfaces for each type of machine, and differences in body designs of each printer.
The device of the present invention directs itself to all of the mentioned problems. The subject invention allows for the feeding of marginally perforated, continuous form paper to friction feed printers. This is generally accomplished by using pin feed mechanisms purely as guides (not as drive mechanisms) for guiding the paper along a linear path while further preventing the paper from moving horizontally (side to side) either on the incoming side or on both sides (incoming and outgoing). The subject device also keeps multi-part perforated continuous form sheet from de-collating while it is driven through said printer.
The present device also allows for an adjustment in paper width which can be used in conjunction with fixed pin wheel type printers for using various paper widths. Due to the low torque of this invention, any paper can be engaged on one fixed pin wheel on such printer, and said paper can be guided in and out of the printer. Another major advantage of the present invention is its adjustability such that the sheet can be supported in a great variety of attitudes vis-a-vis the printer.
These and other objects of the present invention are accomplished by a device for positioning an edge perforated sheet in an exit and/or feed path with respect to a printer or the like for guiding said sheet while exiting and/or entering said printer, said device comprising a base including and upwardly generally vertically extending main support, bracket means connected to said main support, said bracket means in turn supporting separate first and second sheet guides for independent height and rotational movement, said first and second generally vertically spaced upper and lower guides each including a pair of laterally extending, generally parallel sheet support elements, said second guide further including sheet edge guide support means positioned forwardly of said second guide support elements and in turn adapted to support a pair of sheet edge guides in laterally spaced and adjustable positions at the lateral edges of said sheet path.
Other objects, features and advantages of the invention shall become apparent as the description thereof proceeds when considered in connection with the accompanying illustrative drawing.